Wall construction



June 11, 1957 Filed Juno 1 6. 1952 S. B. BAGGE WALL CONSTRUCTION 2 sheets-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. \SPf/VCER 5 5466:-

,4 TTOR/Vffi WALL CONSTRUCTION Spencer B. Bagge, San Francisco, Calif.

Application June 16, 1952, Serial No. 293,750

1 Claim. (Cl. 18934) This invention relates to wall construction and to a method of forming a wall, and has for one of its objects the provision of quick and economical wall structure to be employed for forming a wall between a pre-existing floor and ceiling.

Another object of the invention is the provision of strong, economically made, wall sections adapted to be quickly and economically installed between a pre-existing floor and ceiling and which sections give the elfect and appearance of permanent walls, but are readily removable and usable in other locations.

Heretofore the making of partition walls has either constituted the erection of relatively flimsy panels that are obviously of relatively fragile structure or an operation that is virtually as costly, slow and disagreeable as a permanent wall. The former procedure is little more than the positioning of a screen in a room and gives substantially no greater privacy or protection, which the latter procedure involves the breaking away of existing plaster and the installation of substantially all of the elements of a permanent wall-made in the same manner as an originally formed room wall including wet plaster that naturally creates objectionable dampness in the room or rooms during drying, as Well as the objectionable odors incident thereto. The expense is extremely high due to the necessity for employing skilled carpenters and lasterers.

Rooms that are being partitioned are usually in use, which makes it highly desirable that the installation of the partition or partitions be done quickly, preferably overnight or at least over a week-end, so that the business conducted in the rooms will not be interrupted.

With the present invention, relatively unskilled workmen are enabled to quickly and efficiently erect partitions that, to all appearance and insofar as results are concerned, are original room walls, and such partitions can bereadily and quickly shifted or removed with relatively little difficulty and expense.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in the drawings.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a wall section made in accordance with this invention with the lower portion of the panel covering the near side broken away to show the studs and lower stud connecting strip.

Fig. 2 shows a side elevational view of several of the wall sections in a room, the ceiling and floor being indicated in cross section and the wall sections being broken away on their near sides to show structure.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side-elevational view of the connection between a pair of adjacent studs of an adjacent pair of wall sections and the connection between said wall sections and the ceiling. The wall sections indicated are as they appear when erected but before being finished.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the bottom of the partition wall.

States Patedf Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

In detail, referring to Fig. 1 each wall section comprises a row of conventional, structural steel studs generally designated 1. Each of these studs is usually of relatively shallow channel form having narrow sides 2 (Fig. 6) and a relatively wide web 3, the latter being cut out at spaced points therealong as at 5 for the sake of lightness and economy and to also permit the passage of wires or pipes in the wall if desired. There may be two or more studs to each wall section, according to its width, but normally each such section would be the width of the standard wall board,plywood or plaster board panel, namely; four feet, and the number of-studs in a section of that width depends upon the character of the panels and the building requirements. In Fig. 1 four such studs are shown.

The end studs 6 of the studs in each wall section preferably have their sides 2 directed inwardly toward each other, whereby the webs will be outermost, and the end portions 7 are preferably bent at right angles to the main body portion between said ends and said end por tions are preferably coplanar at the corresponding ends of the studs. The end portions on the end studs are directed toward each other so as not to project outwardly of the end studs.

Extending over the upper ends of the studs and on the bent over end portions 7 is an upper strip 8,'preferably of wood, and extending across the lower ends of the studs and against the lower end portions 7 is a lower strip 9, also preferably of wood.

These stripsS, 9 may be of say 1' x 3" stock, according to'the width of the studs, assuming the latter are 3 in width, but in any event these strips preferably are not wider than the studs so that said strips will be within the projected confines of the ends of the studs.

Said strips are secured to the said portions 7 in any suitable manner. I have found that nails are satisfactory, as indicated at 10 (Figs. 4 to 6).

Secured to one or to each of the sides of the row of studs 1, as desired, is a rectangular panel 12, the vertical length of each panel is preferably equal to substantially the distance between the floor 13 (Fig. 2) and ceiling 14, although several panel sections may be provided on each side to make up said height.

Sheet metal screws 15 may be used at spaced intervals" along the sides of the studs for securing the panels to said studs.

The vertical edges of the panels 12 are preferably even with the oppositely outwardly facing surfaces of the end studs 6, and the upper and lower edges of said panels are preferably substantially flush with the upper and lower surfaces of the strips 8, 9 respectively.

It has already been mentioned that the panels 12 may be on one or both sides of the row of studs in each wall section. Normally such panels are on both sides, but in certain instances where one side of the wall is not seen by anyone in a room, as in closet or store room space, two panels are not absolutely necessary and only the side that faces into the room need be covered by a panel.

The foregoing description is of a wall section that may be made up in the room Where the partition is being installed, and may be handled as a unit.

In forming the partition, the preferred method and structure is to fasten ceiling and floor plates 17, 18 to the floor and ceiling by any suitable means, such as nails, and positioned in the plane that the partition is to occupy. These plates may correspond to the strips 8, 9 as to Width and thickness. The thickness may vary but the width need not exceed that of the strips 8, 9 respectively.

After the ceiling and floor plates are in position the partition sections are positioned between them with bolts 21 extending between the adjacent end studs of adjacent wall sections.

Carried on each of said bolts at its ends are clamping elements'22 (Fig. 6) that extend transversely across the sides of the studs that are at opposite sides of the ends of said bolts, and each of said elements has its end portions 27 slightly bent to one side so that the inner sides of said portions will engage the free edges of the sides of the studs to tend to draw the said adjacent end studs toward each other and against the bolt when the nut 23 on each bolt is tightened. The head 24- of each bolt engages the element that is at the head end of the bolt.

The adjacent edges of the adjacent co-planar panels on adjacent wall sections are cut away as at 25 (Fig. 3) to expose the elements 22 and the head 24 and nut 23, this space later being filled with plaster to provide a surface flush with the outer surface of the panels at opposite sides of the wall sections.

The entire partition wall is constructed in the manner above explained. It may be necessary that some of the panels may be narrower than others according to door space that may be provided and the length of the wall, but the structure is the same.

To tightly secure the wall sections between the floor and ceiling plates, the sections are preferably wedged tightly against the ceiling plates by wedges 26 that are between the floor plate and each strip 9. These wedges may be of any desired thickness from shingle thickness upward, and the strips 8 may then be nailed to the ceiling plate, and if desired, the strips 9 may be nailed to the floor plates.

The cracks between adjacent panels may be filled with plaster or not and covered with tape in the conventional manner for covering the panels with a finishing coat of plaster or paint.

Base plates 30 secured to the floor or to the lower marginal portions of the wall sections may cover the space between the wall sections and the floor and the usual quarter-round or other molding 31 may be positioned in the corners defined by the floor and base plate 30 and the ceiling and upper edges of the wall sections.

A wall constructed as above described may be easily removed by merely removing the base plates and molding and then removing the wall sections from the ceiling plate. The bolts 21 are readily removed by removing the plaster covering them, if it is found necessary to break up the wall to fit a different place. However, the job of finishing the wall after the sections are in place is relatively small, and easy to perform.

The making up of the wall sections itself is very simple inasmuch as the wall panels are for the most part of standard size and form a guide for the positioning of the studs. The entire fabrication of the wall from the beginning can readily and quickly be done by relatively unskilled labor, thus reducing the cost of putting in a partition to a fraction of that where the wall must be built up in the manner heretofore practiced.

I claim:

In wall structure, a pair of rectangular vertically disposed, coplanar panels with vertical adjacent edges, a plurality of pairs of horizontally spaced vertically extending channel members providing studs, a pair of said channel members being secured against and to one of the corresponding sides of each of said panels with each channel member of said pair along each of the vertical edges of each panel, each of said channel members having a pair of opposed sides and a web connecting one of the corresponding edges of said sides with the open side of each channel opposite the web, said pair of channel members along the vertical edges of each panel having their open sides facing each other and their webs perpendicular to the plane of each panel, bolts extending horizontally across and between the webs of the channel members that are along the adjacent edges of the pair of panels, clamping elements on the opposite ends of said bolts in engagement with sides of said last mentioned channel members securing them against movement away from each other and said bolts for securing said panels together, said clamping elements on each bolt being in opposed relation and extending horizontally to opposite sides of each bolt, the opposed surfaces of said elements being in engagement with the said sides of said last mentioned channel members with said surfaces extending slantingly across the free edges of said channel members and convergently at each side of said bolt in direction outwardly from the latter to hold the adjacent channel members of adjacent panels against said bolts when said clamping members are tightened against the latter, a nut on one end of each bolt for so tightening said clamping elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 844,944 Jacobs Feb. 19, 1907 1,591,948 Adams July 13, 1926 1,842,308 Bohnsack Ian. 19, 1932 2,042,721 Loewy June 2, 1936 2,054,694 Eldredge Sept. 15, 1936 2,066,718 Dietz Jan. 5, 1937 2,080,230 Ray May 11, 1937 2,137,767 Betcone Nov. 22, 1938 2,140,772 Slayter et al. Dec. 20, 1938 2,331,752 Wilson Oct. 12, 1943 2,363,405 Eichelberger Nov. 21, 1944 2,363,862 Hancock Nov. 28, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 168,644 Switzerland July 2, 1934 541,733 Great Britain Dec. 9, 1941 805,079 Germany May 7, 1951 

